2024 Olympics Golf Picks & Outright Betting Preview
Men's golf returns to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris as 60 golfers will compete for the gold medal at Le Golf National, which hosts the Open de France annually on the DP World Tour.
Our golf analysts have their 2024 Olympics Golf Picks ready for Le Golf National as Xander Schauffele, the reigning Open Championship and PGA Championship winner, looks to defend his title after winning the gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Our golf betting experts have already peppered the 2024 Paris Olympics Golf odds and outright betting board on Monday as they have outright bets for three different golfers to win the tournament this week, including Ludvig Åberg of Sweden.
60 golfers with world class talent are in the field this week as players from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf and more tours will clash this week at the Paris Olympics, including the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka and Tom Kim.
Find our favorite 2024 Olympics Golf Picks for the Men's Competition in Paris below.
2024 Olympics Golf Picks
Spencer Aguiar: Jon Rahm 11-1 (BetMGM)
I've discussed my intrigue for Viktor Hovland (33-1) and Shubhankar Sharma (400-1) on Action Network shows leading into this week's Olympics at Le Golf National because the course accentuates their ball-striking strengths and mitigates some of the around-the-green concerns.
Most misses off the tee end up equally jarring for all players in the field since they either float to the bottom of a lake or into thick rough with a little more volatility than usual. That remains true for why I bet each option, but Spanish superstar Jon Rahm at 11-1 was one of the high-end values to consider because of his price point compared to Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.
My model loved Rahm at Le Golf National because he ranked third for Projected Greens in Regulation (GIR), second for Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and third for Weighted Scoring. After a slow start to 2024, the Spaniard has started to show signs of life recently with top-10 finishes in four straight starts, highlighted by a tie for seventh at The Open Championship and a win at LIV UK over this past weekend.
There might be reasons to be even more optimistic since my model had some concerns with Rahm's Total Driving, and this has always been a huge strength of his when he has been at his best.
When I ran my baseline totals for him dating back an entire season, the Spaniard jumped into the same price range as Schaffuele and Scheffler's current prices.
For more on my favorite DFS plays to make and golfers to fade, check out my Data-Driven DFS betting preview for the Paris Olympics.
Tony Sartori: Ludvig Åberg 15-1 (bet365)
It’s not a hot take to say that Ludvig Åberg is the next face of golf. The Swede is still so young at 24 years old and is a few years away from consistently dominating, like Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, once his game matures.
Nonetheless the ceiling is there, and he is already capable of winning such a loaded event as the 2024 Paris Olympics. Åberg has proved he can contend on the biggest stages by finishing runner-up at the Masters at Augusta National and tying for 12th at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 — in his first three major championship starts.
This week is all about accuracy off the tee and on approach because of the tight fairways and abundance of links-style bunkers and water hazards at Le Golf National.
Golfers also need to stick their approach shots close on these large and fast greens where three-putt avoidance will be key. This type of course suits Åberg especially well given that he has gained strokes on the field on approach in 10 consecutive tournaments.
He has also been more accurate off the tee than the field average in eight of those 10 events.
Matt Gannon: Hideki Matsuyama 37-1 (DraftKings)
This is a great number on a golfer who simply wins, and his recent struggles have boosted this price. Matsuyama missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open and finished in a tie for 66th at The Open Championship. I am not worried about that in the slightest as links golf is not where I would prefer Matsuyama.
Le Golf National is a great venue for the Japanese sensation because it is a golf course that rewards driving accuracy off the tee and being very precise into the greens. That fits Matsuyama's game perfectly, and despite the poor recent results, his ball-striking form is fine.
Do not worry about the missed cut and poor play, which was mostly a product of his poor putting, because this is a far better fit for him. Just last year, his countryman Ryo Hisatsune won on this golf course at the Open de France. Hisatsune plays a very similar game to Matsuyama, which is another reason for optimism at this week's Olympic Men's Golf Competition.
